Opportunity Information: Apply for DARPA RA 16 63
DARPA's Young Faculty Award (YFA), issued under Research Announcement DARPA-RA-16-63, is a discretionary grant opportunity designed to support early-career faculty who have ambitious, high-impact research ideas aligned with DARPA's mission-driven science and technology priorities. The program invites innovative proposals across a wide range of disciplines, including physical sciences, engineering, materials, mathematics, biology, computing, informatics, social science, and manufacturing. Research topics should be of interest to DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO), Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), and Biological Technologies Office (BTO), which collectively span foundational scientific advances, microsystems and hardware-software technologies, and cutting-edge biotechnology and bioengineering efforts relevant to national defense.
Eligibility is tightly focused on "young faculty" in the formal career-stage sense rather than by age. Applicants must be tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professors (or an equivalent position) at a non-profit research institution in the United States. By the full proposal deadline of January 18, 2017, the Principal Investigator must be within eight years of their tenure-clock or appointment start date at a U.S. institution, with personal leaves of absence excluded from that eight-year calculation. The program allows participation by U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals, as long as the work is performed at U.S. institutions and the participants comply with any applicable nondisclosure requirements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes that may apply depending on the project and context.
Several restrictions apply to prevent conflicts and ensure the award reaches new investigators. Prior recipients of a DARPA YFA are not eligible to apply again in this or any future YFA competition. Former DARPA Program Managers are also not eligible to apply for funding under this program. At the same time, the announcement makes clear that researchers who have received other, non-YFA DARPA awards are still eligible to propose, meaning prior DARPA support does not automatically disqualify an applicant as long as they have not previously held a YFA and meet the early-career timing and appointment requirements.
The submission process emphasizes minimizing wasted effort by encouraging early engagement. Each Principal Investigator is limited to a single executive summary and a single full proposal submission under this research announcement. DARPA strongly encourages submitting an executive summary before preparing a full proposal so the agency can provide an early indication of interest and help applicants avoid investing significant time in proposals that are outside the scope of DARPA needs. In addition, applicants must provide a comprehensive listing of federal research support (past, current, and pending). This disclosure must include the sponsor, funding amount, and performance dates for all federally funded research efforts, and it must be included on the submission cover sheet as directed in Section IV of the DARPA-RA-16-63 announcement.
Key administrative details from the opportunity record include a posting date (creation date) of September 30, 2016, a closing date of January 18, 2017, and classification under CFDA 12.910. The instrument type is a grant, and the activity category is science and technology and other research and development. While the source listing does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards, the opportunity is positioned as a competitive, high-selectivity DARPA program intended to identify and accelerate exceptionally promising early-career faculty and their research directions in areas that could lead to transformative defense-relevant capabilities.Apply for DARPA RA 16 63
- The DARPA - Defense Sciences Office in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Young Faculty Award (YFA)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.910.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2016-09-30.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-01-18. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: Others.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) - DARPA-RA-16-63
1) What is the DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA)?
The DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA), issued under Research Announcement DARPA-RA-16-63, is a discretionary grant opportunity intended to support early-career faculty with ambitious, high-impact research ideas aligned with DARPA's mission-driven science and technology priorities.
2) What kind of projects is DARPA looking for under this YFA opportunity?
DARPA is inviting innovative proposals across a broad range of disciplines, as long as the proposed research is aligned with DARPA priorities and is of interest to one or more of the relevant DARPA offices mentioned in the announcement (DSO, MTO, and BTO). The opportunity is framed as competitive and high-selectivity, aimed at identifying and accelerating exceptionally promising early-career faculty and research directions that could lead to transformative defense-relevant capabilities.
3) Which research disciplines are eligible or encouraged?
The announcement invites proposals across many disciplines, including physical sciences, engineering, materials, mathematics, biology, computing, informatics, social science, and manufacturing.
4) Which DARPA offices are connected to this opportunity?
The opportunity notes research topics should be of interest to DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO), Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), and Biological Technologies Office (BTO).
5) What do DSO, MTO, and BTO focus on (as described in the opportunity)?
Collectively, these offices span foundational scientific advances (DSO), microsystems and hardware-software technologies (MTO), and cutting-edge biotechnology and bioengineering efforts relevant to national defense (BTO).
6) Who is eligible to apply as a "young faculty" applicant?
Eligibility is based on formal career stage rather than age. Applicants must be tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professors (or an equivalent position) at a non-profit research institution in the United States.
7) Is there a time-since-appointment requirement for the Principal Investigator (PI)?
Yes. By the full proposal deadline of January 18, 2017, the PI must be within eight years of their tenure-clock or appointment start date at a U.S. institution.
8) Are leaves of absence counted in the eight-year eligibility window?
No. Personal leaves of absence are excluded from the eight-year calculation.
9) Does the program limit eligibility by citizenship?
The program allows participation by U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals, as long as the work is performed at U.S. institutions and participants comply with any applicable nondisclosure requirements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes that may apply depending on the project and context.
10) Can foreign nationals apply or participate in YFA-funded work?
Foreign Nationals may participate as long as the work is performed at U.S. institutions and all applicable nondisclosure requirements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes are followed, as applicable.
11) Are prior DARPA awardees eligible to apply?
Yes, researchers who have received other, non-YFA DARPA awards are still eligible to propose, as long as they meet the early-career timing and appointment requirements and have not previously received a DARPA YFA.
12) Can a prior DARPA YFA recipient apply again?
No. Prior recipients of a DARPA YFA are not eligible to apply again in this or any future YFA competition.
13) Are former DARPA Program Managers eligible to apply?
No. Former DARPA Program Managers are not eligible to apply for funding under this program.
14) How many submissions can a PI make under this research announcement?
Each PI is limited to a single executive summary and a single full proposal submission under DARPA-RA-16-63.
15) Is an executive summary required before submitting a full proposal?
The opportunity strongly encourages submitting an executive summary before preparing a full proposal. The intent is to let DARPA provide an early indication of interest and help applicants avoid investing significant time in proposals that are outside the scope of DARPA needs.
16) Why does DARPA encourage early submission of an executive summary?
DARPA encourages an executive summary first so the agency can provide an early indication of interest and reduce wasted effort on full proposals that may be outside DARPA's scope or needs.
17) What disclosures are required regarding federal research support?
Applicants must provide a comprehensive listing of federal research support (past, current, and pending). This disclosure must include the sponsor, funding amount, and performance dates for all federally funded research efforts, and it must be included on the submission cover sheet as directed in Section IV of the DARPA-RA-16-63 announcement.
18) Where must the federal research support listing be included?
The federal research support listing must be included on the submission cover sheet, following the instructions in Section IV of the DARPA-RA-16-63 announcement.
19) What type of funding instrument is used for this opportunity?
The instrument type listed for this opportunity is a grant.
20) What is the program's CFDA number?
The opportunity is classified under CFDA 12.910.
21) What is the activity category for this opportunity?
The activity category is science and technology and other research and development.
22) When was this opportunity posted?
The posting (creation) date listed for this opportunity is September 30, 2016.
23) What is the full proposal deadline (closing date)?
The closing date listed for this opportunity is January 18, 2017.
24) Does the opportunity specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards?
No. The source listing does not specify an award ceiling or an expected number of awards.
25) How competitive is this DARPA program described to be?
It is positioned as a competitive, high-selectivity DARPA program intended to identify and accelerate exceptionally promising early-career faculty and their research directions.
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